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| Brian Morehouse and Bria
Ebels celebrate during the closing moments of the
game. Photo by Josh Bowerman for D3hoops.com |
By Mark Simon
D3hoops.com
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Hope coach Brian Morehouse was having such a good time during the news conference following his team's national championship win that we didn't want to spoil his fun.
So this writer bit his tongue as Morehouse talked at length about how his squad didn't have an All-American, at least until Morehouse called us out over Ebels' selection as second-team All-Region. At that point we shared a little secret: Ebels was named to D3hoops.com's All-America squad.
What Morehouse was not aware of was that Ebels' selection was the subject of significant discussion the previous night among those on this site's staff. (All-Americans are selected by staff, All-Region teams by regional sports information directors.) As Morehouse pointed out, Ebels' numbers paled when stacked alongside other candidates for top honors, but the consensus among our broadcast crew was that Ebels was the kind of player that you really had to watch to appreciate.
The same could be said of Morehouse's team, the best in the nation for the 2005-06 season. No team in the history of this Web site has had as impressive a run in the NCAA Tournament as this Hope team, which beat the top four ranked teams in the D3hoops.com Top 25 (without the benefit of a home game) to come out on top.
Hope won because it had the best combination of talent and it was pretty amazing how good the team was in every facet. Ebels probably had as many floor burns as she had baskets. Point guard Julie Henderson and backup center Linday Lange had both height and speed. Also off the bench Megan Noll was an ultra-valuable defender in the semis and Sarah Jurik provided a spark on the offensive end in the championship game. It was a team that came at you in waves with each as strong, or stronger than the one that came previously.
“That team would do pretty well in the Patriot League,” said Scranton head coach Mike Strong, whose squad came within three points of Hope in the national semifinals.
“We got beat as good a team as I've seen in Division III,” said Southern Maine head coach Gary Fifield. “They were every good as bit as those Washington University teams (that won four straight national titles and had two members and head coach on the NCAA Division III Championship 25 th Anniversary team). They were athletic. They had great size. They had great depth. They would beat a lot of Division I teams. They are a really, really good team. I can't emphasize that enough.”
There was some skepticism in these parts regarding Morehouse's philosophy, one he outlined after the semis on Friday when he said his squad would do best to treat the championship contest like any other game. Such a strategy might not be a good fit for everyone, but it proved to be the right one for this team. We've seen different coaches apply different methodology for mental motivation in the championship round (this was the seventh national championship I've covered) and this proved to be the best one for the best team. The players totally bought in and it's evident they believe in their head coach.
“He's a great motivator,” said Henderson, who had 12 points, seven rebounds and three steals in the title game. “He knows what we can accomplish.”
Some of the writers talked about how this championship was one that was 10 years in the making, but it probably took longer than that to evolve. Morehouse is the son of a coach, his now-assistant Dean Morehouse (he jokingly referred to his parents as “mean Dean and meaner Jean … I get my toughness from my mom.”). The family spent one day a week or so ago in church though both Morehouse men had other things on their mind.
“Dad didn't yell at me when I was sitting in the pews drawing up plays,” Brian Morehouse said on Thursday at the NCAA's pre-championship media gathering. “I think he wanted to see that I was drawing them up right.”
So the 37-year-old Morehouse, who remembered throwing his coat into the stands in his head coaching debut (at age 26) was calm throughout the weekend and confident that his team was well prepared for what an outsider would perceive to be a difficult challenge. By the weekend's end, he was on the receiving end of hugs from each of the players he removed from the game in the final seconds of the national championship win over Southern Maine .
He carried two players up the sidelines, had embraces for just about everyone who approached him, and had enough energy left to dance with his players at center court after being handed the championship trophy. A journey that began with a reading of Springfield native Dr. Seuss' Oh The Places You'll Go prior to the season opener against Edgewood concluded at the birthplace of basketball before a tremendous contingent of fans that wanted to be part of Hope's happy family.
“Some people might be afraid to show their emotions, but I tell my players ‘I love you, I trust you, and I believe in you. I'm going to be here for you, win or lose,” said Morehouse, who went out to receive his championship plaque with his two daughters, Megan and Emma. “We have a family at Hope that truly loves each other.”
It's a family that loves to have fun. Dean Morehouse told his son when the team was struggling in the midst of the semifinals against Scranton that what would change the momentum would be simple. Show some smiles. Show that you're having a good time. Championship basketball is serious business, but it's a fun business too. In this case, father knew best. Those dedicated followers who made the journey had hoped that this would be a fun weekend, if you'll pardon the pun. It was. It just so happened that it turned out to be a championship one as well.